1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to an improved data processing system and in particular to responding to events on a server. Still more particularly, the present invention relates to responding to attacks or errors on a server that degrade an ability of the server to perform an intended purpose.
2. Description of the Related Art
A continuing problem in modern computing systems is attacks by remote clients on servers. Attacks can come in many forms, but are generally categorized as either denial of service (DOS) attacks or takeover attacks. Denial of service attacks seek to disable a service, such as a banking Internet service system. Usually, denial of service attacks seek to overwhelm one or more servers or software programs by flooding the servers or software programs with bogus data packets. Takeover attacks are more rare, but are more insidious as they seek to actually take over the server or software programs.
In addition to attacks, servers or software programs handling network traffic can have relatively normal operating problems. For example, execution of an uncommon code path, a programming error, and an exception during execution of a program operating on one of the servers or clients can also cause a suspension of service.
However, whether the event is malicious or benign, the effect can be the same: denial of service. In the case of large business enterprises, the cost of a service being down can be in the millions of dollars even if the service is down for only a few hours.